A beginner’s guide to Scientist, dub reggae’s experimental genius

“The Jamaican audio engineer Scientist is one of the crucial links in a musically innovative chain that begins in the late 60s with King Tubby, progresses through Prince Jammy in the 70s, and falls to a close with Peter Chemist in the mid-80s. A truly outstanding practitioner who thrived on innovation, Scientist helped dub reach some of its greatest heights of creativity. He became one of Jamaica’s most sought-after engineers at a very young age, his mixing artistry rising up in tandem with the Roots Radics in the late 70s and early 80s. Because of the incredible dub works he fashioned as an apprentice engineer at King Tubby’s studio, many dub fans consider Scientist to be the last of the classical Jamaican dub mixers, yet his overall contribution to the evolution of reggae is far more multifaceted than most realise. In fact, Scientist was all over the place as the 70s gave way to the 80s, shaping significant vocal and dub works at Studio One, Channel One and Tuff Gong at a time in which reggae was undergoing dramatic changes. …”FACTYouTube: The Scientist mixes Ted Sirota’s Heavyweight Dub — “Stop & Frisk Dub”